Established in 1991, the UCLA Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (UCLA OAIC) seeks a third renewal to continue its mission of expanding the scientific knowledge that will lead to better ways to maintain or restore independence. In this renewal, we will focus our efforts on the theme, "Developing Interventions to Maintain Independence and Understanding Mechanisms of Successful Interventions," which extends the Center's prior research. Thus, the emphasis will be on research that builds bridges between basic biomedical science and clinical science. In the UCLA OAIC paradigm, basic biomedical research informs clinical research and clinical research informs basic biomedical research. Accordingly, the UCLA OAIC will support research that links these two types of research in both directions by 1) examining mechanisms underlying successful clinical interventions and 2) developing new basic science approaches that will lead to clinical interventions. The Center will stimulate scientific discovery through 4 Research Cores (Recruitment, Research Operations, Analysis and Cost-effectiveness, and Inflammatory Biology), a Pilot and Exploratory Studies (P/EC) Core, a Research Career Development Core (RCDC), and a Leadership/Administrative Core (LAC). Research Cores will provide 4 levels of support (consultation, short-term, ongoing, and partnership on new projects) for external projects (e.g., R01s) and internal OAIC activities (e.g., pilots and Career Development Awardees). The UCLA OAIC will accomplish its goals by accomplishing 6 Specific Aims: 1) To provide intellectual leadership and innovation for geriatrics and aging research on the Center's theme and related research 2) To stimulate translational links between basic and clinical research, with an emphasis on inflammation 3) To facilitate and develop novel multidisciplinary research 4) To stimulate incorporation of emerging technologies 5) To serve as source of advice and collaboration to other institutions 6) To provide career development of future research leaders